When a bombshell walks into a room the reaction is explosive. Vintage Hollywood Bombshells are some of the most bodacious broads to bless the screens and the radio airwaves. These divas dominated the hearts and minds of men in America and abroad. Blonde Bombshells, Brunette Bombshells, Red Headed, and more there are so many to love.

What makes a Bombshell? It's her confidence in her step, sparkle in her eye, and the way she commands the room. Sexiest sirens ever to grace the small screen, big screen, and radio. popular female sex icons and we've made original old time radio collections.

Between 1946 and 1958, the United States detonated 23 atomic devices at Bikini Atoll, 42.2 megatons. The first explosion of Operation Crossroads, Test Able, was the first atomic explosion to be publicly announced prior to detonation. An observation area was set up and members of the press were flown to the South Pacific to observe the event. The crew of the B-29 which was to drop the 23 kiloton bomb stenciled the name Gilda on the case of the device, and attached a photo of Rita Hayworth which had been cut from the June 1946 issue of Esquire magazine to honor the movie which was popular at the time, as well as the actress who played the title role.

When word reached Ms. Hayworth that the fourth atomic device to be exploded in human history was to bear her image, she was livid. She was determined to fly to Washington so she could hold a press conference in protest, but the Columbia Studio head, Harry Cohn, vetoed the trip saying it would be seen as unpatriotic. Rita's husband at the time, Orson Welles, intoned on his Commentaries program over ABC Radio that "I want my daughter to be able to tell her daughter that grandmother's picture was on the last atom bomb ever to explode." Like any husband, Welles tried to be sympathetic to his wife's distress, but he seemed befuddled and perhaps a little amused by the whole episode.

After all, any red-blooded male would agree that Rita Hayworth was a bombshell.

The term bombshell has largely been supplanted by sex symbol since the time of Marilyn Monroe. The earliest examples of cannon artillery fired solid projectiles that were relatively effective as knocking down stone castles or punching holes in wooden ships but didn't really do that much if they fell on a battlefield filled with marching soldiers. The solution was a hollow projectile filled with explosives which were fused to explode when it reached the target, a "bomb shell". The fragments from the exploding shell, called shrapnel, did the lion's share of the damage, but the shock wave from the explosion could also incapacitate men for yards around the target zone.

When cinema became popular after the Great War, it was obvious that a very pretty girl on the screen could have a similar effect on the men in the audience as standing a few feet away from an exploding shell on the battlefield, namely turning them into wide-eyed, unthinking, barely functioning idiots. Granted, the effect of a pretty girl seems a lot more pleasant, but either type of bombshell could be pretty dangerous.

The first Hollywood beauty to receive the bombshell label was Jean Harlow, who was nicknamed "the blonde bombshell" for her role in The Platinum Blonde (1931). The description was popular enough for MGM to make Bombshell (1933) with Harlow starring as "Lola Burns".